What Lies Beyond the Veil
by mayanpaw
Summary: He's rude, crude, mystereous and all of the girls love him. But there is something more to him than meets the eye. Meet Professor Elric. HPxFMA crossover
1. Rainy Days

**AN: Hello everybody. Mayanpaw here! I know that I'm probably making a huge mistake posting this, since my updating speed is horrible enough as it is. But this little idea has been bugging me and on thegirlinred93's urging (thank you, you're amazing) I decided to post this up. Oh and appologies for any mistakes I make concerning the HP universe, it has been a while since I've actually read number 5.**

**Disclaimer (For the whole story, cause I know that I will forget to put it up) : I do not own FMA or Harry Potter. I have neither the awsome drawing skills of Arakawa or the amazing writing abilities of Rowling. Just writting this for my own fun.**

Chapter 1

The rain softly pounded on the windows as Dumbledore looked around the cold-feeling room. Despite the roaring fire and the presence of the overly large and crimson phoenix, the room felt as draughty as the horrible weather outside. In fact, to any outsider the room would be described as downright cozy, yet the single sheet of parchment in his hands provided the necessary ice to chill him to the core.

The ministry had, after being informed of the need for _another_ DADA teacher, taken it upon themselves to hire one for him. And it wasn't just any person. They had assigned Dolores Umbridge, one of the worst women possible for the job. She was a stickler for the rules and followed anything that Fudge instructed (to the point where she became like a puppy), so he could see the reasoning for her placement. Yet beneath her sickeningly sweet exterior lay a sinister side. Oh yes, he had heard rumors of her methods and it truly scared him. To top it off, she was a well known bigot, supporting anything pro-pureblood and was openly oppressive to muggle-borns. And with the high number of muggle-borns and half-bloods at the school, he was terrified.

To top it off, he had received a letter of resignation from his last Alchemy teacher, a frail old man, who taught the subject from books. The sad fact was, the man probably knew little to none on the subject and (much like Trelawney) could barely practice the art. However it wasn't that he could blame him. Alchemy was becoming a lost art, much like Latin for the muggles. The only reason that Dumbledore could have any say on the matter was that he had worked with Nicholas Flamel and had been close friends with him up until his death. Yet, unsurprisingly, class numbers were dropping. So Nicolas Brown had sent him his resignation letter, using the excuse that he wanted to travel the world, and had left Dumbledore with one more position to fill.

Unwilling to want to face having to report to the ministry that he was short _another _teacher, he opted to take a small stroll around the grounds. Casting a simple spell around him, effectively blocking the rain, he walked out onto the deserted fields. The absence of students in the early summer (1st week of July to be exact) gave the whole area an empty, yet peaceful feel. Many of the teachers had gone home, leaving only the house elves, Madame Pomfrey (who wouldn't be leaving for another two weeks), Hagrid, Flich, and himself behind. He paused and looked over the Black Lake, when a crackling, much like the sound of electricity being produced, drew his attention over to the bank of the lake.

A large black circle had appeared in the grainy, grimy sand with such precision that he couldn't doubt the use of magic. Not a single grain of sand was out of place and he could see the intricate designs scattered all throughout the circle. Suddenly the circle lit up, glowing a bright neon blue. Electricity, the same color as the light, sparked out of nowhere, creating glass in the surrounding sand.

The light had become so bright that Dumbledore was forced to turn his head away from the intensity of the lights. When the lights had died down, he turned back. To his shock and horror, a small figure laid in the now distorted circle. He ran over to see who had possibly managed to survive such a phenomenon as that. Once he reached the figures side, he rolled the bloodied, blond figure over. The rain pounding on the boys face, his eyelids fluttered open to reveal the most unusual, amber colored eyes that Dumbledore had ever seen. The boy opened his mouth and a raspy voice called out before he fell back into unconsciousness, "Alphonse…"


	2. New York

**AN: Hey everybody! I can't believe that I actually got this up here within a week of my last update. I'm so proud of myself. I'm actually really excited about this fic (like I said, little plot bunny won't leave me alone.) But for those of you who are wondering, don't worry about The Grass is Always Greener, I'm planning on working on the next chapter of that well...next. So I should be jumping back and forth from fic to fic. Anyways, on to reviews.**

**OMG, I don't think I've ever seen so many reviews. Not even kidding, I was flipping out, out of pure happiness. Thanks to all of the people who favorited or added my story to watch :AliasAurora, Orpheus-karo, XantaClaus, VampireArgonian92, Damarikomu, Kuchaki, Ali Phantom, theretard5892, darkryubaby, sprites forest, nihonnut, and mrawgirl09**

**I'd really like to thank these people for their awsome reviews :Orange Singer, XantaClaus, VampireArgonian92, Damarikomu, theretard5892, darkryubaby, nihonnut, and mrawgirl09. I'm really sorry if I forgot anybody, I can be kindof absent minded. XD**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

Chapter 2

Ed's POV

I woke suddenly, using all of my years of discipline to keep my eyes shut. _Where am I? _I tried to calm my breathing down to a level that could fool anyone into thinking that I was asleep, it could even fool Al. Once I was sure that anyone would think that I was still asleep I began trying to figure out where I was. I knew that I couldn't risk opening my eyes so I tried to use my other senses to figure out where I was. It was cold, but not a bone chilling cold, but enough to make you want a blanket. And now that I thought about it, I could feel the heavy weight of a blanket on my body and the coarse feel of wool in between my fingers. _Wait…if I can feel the blankets… then my gloves. Oh god no. My automail. _I had to try and calm myself down, wincing at the smell of antiseptic that hit my nose. _Ugh, like a hospital._

_So who are these people? It has the feel of a hospital, complete with the cold, horrible blankets, and the awful, sterile stench. But since my gloves are off, they must've seen my automail. Which means why aren't I being attacked right now? Unless… no, I'm not in Amestris. My alchemy feels different, not like Germany where it was so weak it was almost non-exsistant, yet not like home. So the million cenz question is, where the hell am I?_

I thought back to the events of the day to see if they could possibly explain where I was now.

"_**Brother, wake up. You're going to be late for work." Al's voice said as he struggled to wake me up. Pausing for a second, he uttered the only 3 words which could readily get me up. "I made coffee."**_

"_**Fine, fine. I'm going." I said as I grudgingly got up and dressed, trying to ignore the smug smirk on my brother's face.**_

_**30 minutes later, with a large steaming cup of coffee in my hand, we made our way out of the small, cramped apartment that we lived in and onto the crowded streets of New York City. Lost in the pure delight that was caffeine, I tried to drown out the entire world, until Al pulled me out of the street, and out of the way of the angrily honking Model T that had been baring down on me just seconds later.**_

"_**Damn it! I spilt my coffee." I yelled as I looked at the large stain that now covered my shirt. "Thanks a lot for that jerk!" I yelled after the speeding vehicle.**_

"_**Brother! You nearly got hit! What were you doing in the road?" Al said, still clearly freaked out by the incident.**_

"_**Walking." I mumbled, unwilling to admit that it had been an accident. Ignoring Al's frustrated mumblings, we continued to walk on to the more industrial part of town. **_

_**Finally our building loomed on the horizon, and Al urged me on, desperate to get there in time.**_

"_**Good morning Ed. Good morning Al." A bright, happy voice said that made my insides cringe.**_

"_**Good morning Winry." Al replied happily. Winry Rockefeller ('No, I'm not related to **__**those**__** Rockefeller's. If I were, do you think that I'd really be here?) was the main reason that I hated going to work. The perky secretary was a living reminder to me of what I had left behind. She was currently sitting behind the desk in the small office that was in front of the laboratory that I worked in, waiting expectantly for my reply.**_

_**Refusing to meet her in the eyes, I gruffly replied, "Winry." Out of the corner of eyes I watched her face fall. Steeling myself against the guilt, I continued through the doors and into the large laboratory.**_

"_**Hey guys!" A small, yet cheery voice said as we walked in.**_

"_**Hey Fuer - Kain." I replied to the short, dart haired man with the glasses. I looked around the room at all of my fellow co-workers, who just happened to be the mirror images of my old military friends. Unfortunately that meant…**_

"_**Elric! What took you so long?" Roy Folley snapped with an authoritative voice.**_

"_**Shut up Bastard. I'm here now, so what do you want?" I snapped right back, feeling completely at home with the bantering. Roy however was not.**_

_**Narrowing his eyes at his hated nickname - which I had so thoughtfully given - he went on, with only a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Do you have the calculations for us?"**_

"_**Who do you think you're talking to? Of course I have it!" I said and pulled out the mistake riddled stack of papers out of my briefcase and handed them to Roy.**_

_**Al and I had spent the past two years tracking Huskisson and his bomb across Europe and eventually to America. Despite almost loosing him in Chicago, we had heard that he had made it to New York City, where he had found a group of scientists working for the government and had offered to sell the uranium bomb to them. Despite everyone thinking that he was crazy (his reason for wanting to sell it was that alchemists were on his trail and were going to kill him) they were impressed by his innovative weapon. Al and I made our way to the city where we found the scientists who had bought it, and much to our surprise, found that they were the alters of our old comrades. Once we found out that they were trying to duplicate the bomb we applied for a job, got accepted, and spent every working hour trying to hurt their progress while looking for a way to destroy the thing once and for all.**_

"_**Ok people, we're going to have a test run today. Lisa, are you ready to take notes?" Roy asked to the tall blonde who was holding a clip board.**_

"_**Yes sir." She said in a militaristic voice, much like our Hawkeye back at home.**_

"_**Ok, Jean I need 2 liters of that mixture that we've been working on."**_

"_**Wait, what? I said that we only needed 1.5 liters, not 2." I said worriedly. In truth we only needed 1.25 for it to work, yet since that what I was trying to prevent that, I changed the numbers, knowing that .25 liters extra would stop it from working, yet keep it from catastrophically failing. But I had no idea of how almost an extra liter would effect the experiment, and while working with bombs, uncertainty was not a good thing.**_

"_**Well Elric, the number seemed a little off, so I improvised." This was one of the telling signs that this Roy was not the Mustang that we were used to. The colonel would never have risked peoples lives like this one was currently.**_

"_**Folley, you can't just improvise. We're working on a bomb! We can't just take risks like this." Al pleaded.**_

"_**No, we can and we will. We have yet to have a successful reaction, much less one that can even remotely tell us anything. Now I am giving orders, if you have a problem with that then you can leave but don't bother coming back."**_

_**Al looked at me, fear written all over his face. I saw his eyes dart between the bomb and a knife that someone had brought in to help with lunch. Suddenly Al lunged for the knife and having grabbed it, raced over to the table where the bomb was perched. With a flash of silver I smelt blood on the air and I knew immediately what Al was doing.**_

"_**Stay back!" Al yelled. Everyone froze at his unexpected behavior. Everyone was concentrated on the large (now bloody) knife that was glinting threateningly in his hand, I however was watching his hand that was currently scribbling something in blood on the table.**_

"_**Al, what do you think you're doing?" I said slowly in as calm of a voice that I could manage.**_

"_**Simple Brother, I'm opening the gate." Everyone turned and looked at me, including Winry, who had snuck in after hearing the commotion.**_

"_**What! Al, why would you even attempt that?" I yelled.**_

"_**It's simple, we need to get rid of it and we can't just keep stalling them. Besides, if Roy goes through with the experiment, who knows what's going to happen? So I'm going to transmute the bomb to open the gate." **_

"_**But what about the fee?"**_

"_**Haven't you realized Brother? Uranium is an alchemic amplifier, not as much as the stone, but pretty close. Along with my blood, I should have enough energy to transport us both back home."**_

_**Cold fury spread through my veins like a poison. "What, so you're going to use the bomb as the cost, and hope that it's enough to bring us back through? We don't even know if it would work!" I yelled.**_

"_**No, I don't know. But Brother, if Roy goes through with his plans, half of the city could be lost, and who knows how many lives?" Al explained softly and calmly.**_

"_**I DON'T CARE AL! I'M NOT GONNA LOOSE YOU AGAIN!" I bellowed.**_

_**A small smile graced his face as he placed the bomb in the center of the blood created circle and touched the tips of his fingers on it. "Forgive me Brother." He said softly as a blue light lit up the room and a circle formed in the air, reminiscent of a black hole. Long, black arms reached out and grabbed the bomb, while simultaneously grabbing Al.**_

_**Shocked out of my stupor I raced towards the arms that were stealing my brother for the second time now. "AL!! Give my brother back you bastards." I yelled at the arms. Before I knew it, the arms had wrapped around me and were pulling me in too. I didn't care though, because they were pulling me towards my brother. Realizing that it would be hopeless struggling now, I turned my head to see the scientists. The last thing I saw was Winry's horror filled face as the arms completely covered me and I blacked out.**_

_Ok, so I've been through the Gate, but where did I end up?_

"That's an interesting story there." An old man's voice echoed through the room. "And I know that you aren't asleep, so you can stop pretending."

My eyes snapped open and I looked wildly around the room until I spotted an old man sitting a chair wearing the weirdest clothing I've ever seen. "Who are you?" I growled.

"I'm Albus Dumbledore. It's nice to meet you, Edward Elric."

**AN: Yes, I know, I know. It's a little fillery, but I thought it was important to get the background stuff out of the way first. Don't worry though, the next chapter will have more action, I promise. Oh, and for the rest of the fic, the POV will be Ed's unless otherwise stated.**


	3. Welcome to Hogwarts, Professor Elric

**AN: Hi everybody!!!! Le gasp! Is this an update?? Yeah, sorry about its lateness. I would've posted it earlier except for a very idiotic thing called writers block. Yeah, I had this whole chapter planned out until I lost my stinking notes and then lost the ideas themselves. Thankfully there is a thing called a job with such wonderful benefits like repetitive, mindless tasks that allow you time to do nothing but let your mind wander while you work. And that is why this chapter was born while I was mopping floors. But since part of this chapter had already been partially written, when I sat down to write it, I realized that I had to go back and change my POV. GRRRRR. And I was going to have a real treat for you guys and actually post 2 chapters (I know what I promised about keeping my update speed even between my two stories!!!!!) but I figured that it was too short to be considered its own chapter, and then I found this marvelous little button that inserts this really nifty thing called a line wherever I want one. LOL, but enough complaining and horrible excuses, onward to the reviews!!!!!!!**

**Thank you to vampirelover17, NoOneWasHere, Orange Singer (Thank you so much for your tips, I was so glad to hear that =)), AliasAurora, Kuchaki, nihonnut (Btw, I love your screen name, I am ashamed to say that it took me awhile to figure out what nihon meant, and boy did I feel idiotic after that), Damarikomu (LOL no, Winry Rockefeller is Winry Rockbells alter. It was a little inside joke that I had that a Rockefeller would be working as a secretary. Lol and love the line about Ed going into the light. Priceless!), Ali Phantom, mrawgirl09 (LOL, oh wows! BIIIG REVIEW. SQUUUUUE!!! Sorry I love long reviews. Anyway, I totally agree with you, Al did snap, but he only snapped to stop Folley from activating the bomb. And actually, I had Al use the bomb as the actual material to open the gate. I'm thinking that radioactive material is a good enough offering ; )), DaiHinMin, Devianta, amycool, Hollow Mashiro, MysticMaiden 18, amanda040, Thegirlinred93 (MWAHAHAHA!!! Ze coffee, ze coffee!!!!!! Omg, I'm soooo excited I get to start to twist Ed into his more sadistic, angsty side soon. Soon you won't even be able to tell him apart from my inspiration of him for this story.), gingafortress, ., kame-the-turtle, tigersissi, Suki the Dragon Warrior, 2-10-11eyesFINGERStoes (LOL, btw, I LOVE the jokes that you have on your profile. I was cracking up when I read them)**

**Ummm so one major note before I start, I've never written in 3rd Person POV. I personally do not like it at all, yet this was the only way that I felt that I could really write this chapter. So I appologize before hand. Enjoy!**

**(Edit: I just realized that the 5th book takes place in 1995, so I went back and fixed it. oops DX)**

Chapter 3

Warning flags were immediately springing up all over the place. The last people who had known Ed's name without him telling them were the Homunculi, not the best of creatures. (Although you might not even be able to count them as people.)

"How the hell do you know my name?" Ed growled as he simultaneously jumped out of the bed, instinctively crouching into a fighting stance.

The man flinched for an instant, yet then tried to expertly cover it up. Keeping his voice calm he responded, "Now, now Edward, calm yourself. There is no need to act rashly."

The flags were now multiplying at an exponential rate. Not only was he trying to dodge the question, he was acting a lot like Mustang, trying to exert control over Ed. "You didn't answer my question old man, how do you know my name?"

Dumbledore was currently evaluating the situation at an astonishing speed. Edward was currently becoming more and more upset and his attempts to calm him down weren't working. His Legilimency powers were now becoming increasingly useless because as Edward became more upset, his thoughts became more scrambled and less easy to listen to. All that was running through his head at the moment was random thoughts of loathing, fear and suspicion, with random images of people scattered in between. While they were interesting, they were useless for information. In fact, the only thing that his powers were telling him (other then the rather odd memory that he had been thinking about while pretending to be asleep) was the fact that his subconscious was abnormally loud.

Listening to the mind was like trying to watch an old television. Pictures were rare and often of bad quality, but sound was abundant yet often marred by the static of the subconscious. For most people it was simply a small hiss in the background, barely noticeable like the sound of the ocean becomes if you've been around it for awhile. However this boy's thoughts were barely discernable over the roar of his subconscious, like a white noise machine on high or the sounds of a city on a Saturday night. In truth, the only time that he had ever heard anyone's mind was over 65 years ago with an old friends mind.

Ed stared at the strange old man. He seemed to be deep in thought as if he were contemplating something. "I'm getting tired of waiting. Answer my question."

Albus looked at the boy with curiosity. His reactions would reveal a lot about him although he had a feeling that it would only upset him more. "I'm using Legilimency." Dumbledore simply stated.

Ed's mind was combing itself, searching for any knowledge on that word. The way that the man had stated it, he knew that he wasn't lying. Yet he couldn't remember anything about the subject. "And just what the hell is that?" Ed asked.

_Interesting. So the boy knows nothing about Legilimency, yet it doesn't mean that he knows anything about magic. He could just be a quib or even a common Muggle, but the way that he arrived here practically screamed magic. _Pushing his luck even further, Dumbledore calmly explained. "It's a simple mind reading spell."

Ed stopped still in his tracks. _What did he just say? Mind reading? Spell?_ "What are you talking about?"

Dumbledore stared at him and took out his wand. He muttered a spell under his breath and flowers materialized out of thin air. "Magic." He stated simply.

Edward stared at him dumbfounded. _He just ignored Equivalent Exchange. And that stick…wand thing. The only way that anyone could over come Equivalent Exchange was the…_

"You bastard."Dumbledore stared at the boy. Normally when you revealed the truth about magic, people acted excited or dumbfounded, even sometimes scared. Yet he had never met someone who had reacted with pure venom like he was.

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore replied in disbelief.

"Those are people's souls. Or are you so cold hearted that you would ignore that fact for your own gain?"

"What are you talking about?" Dumbledore asked once again.

"The Philosopher's Stone." The golden haired boy seethed. _How could he know about such a thing? Wait. He thinks that my magic is working because of the stone._

Dumbledore straightened up. "I can assure you, I am not using the Philosophers Stone."

"Ha! Then what else can overcome the law of Equivalent Exchange?" The boy laughed ruefully.

"I am telling you the truth. Here." Dumbledore threw his wand over to Ed who caught it. "See for yourself."

Ed stared at the wand (or that's what the man - Double Door's or something like that - had said what the wooden stick like thing was.) It was long and polished smooth, with a rather comfortable handle on the end. However, unlike the contraption that Mugear had built (way back when he had first met the Tringham brothers) this object had no room for the Philosophers Stone, at most maybe a few slivers of red stone pieces but nothing near powerful enough to create matter out of nothing.

Realizing that this thing had nothing to do with the stone and that the man had somehow made flowers appear out of thin air, Ed's inner alchemist curiosity came out to play. He could feel the alchemic boosting properties that this thing was giving off, in fact he wouldn't be surprised if his power was now double that of any time before in his life, yet he couldn't find the source of the power. Transmuting the floor, he laid the wand next to the marking that he had maid in the stone floor and began making his measurements.

Meanwhile, Albus was amazed at what that boy had just done. He had just preformed magic without a wand, a feat that no wizards had been able to do. However the act itself had seemed strangely familiar. He had seen it somewhere, but where?

"How does this thing work?" The boy's question broke Albus out of his thoughts.

"It's magic. It can't be explained, that is the very nature of magic itself." Albus explained.

"No, it has to have an explanation. Everything follows a rule or a law. Science can explain everything. Science can explain night and day, the changing of the seasons, even love and life itself. Science and scientists are the closest things to God that the universe will ever see." Ed explained in a monotone voice as he focused on the wand.

Dumbledore bent down to the boys level and picked his wand back up. "Now there's a very depressing view on the world. Now I can assure you that this is magic." He conjured up a chair, as if to prove his point and then proceeded to levitate it. "Now if you can somehow explain how I created 2 bunches of flowers and a chair out of thin air, and then proceeded to levitate that chair, then be my guest. But in all my years alive **as a wizard **I have yet to see anybody accomplish that feat. So until that time, magic is real." Dumbledore finally brought the chair back down to earth and offered it to Ed, who looked like he might pass out.

Ed looked at the chair in disbelief, and disgust. _Magic is real. _Those three lines kept playing over and over again in his head, mocking him. _If magic is real, then where was it that night that we tried to bring our mother back to life, huh? Where was it in Ishbal where thousands, if not millions were killed? Where was it when my fathers body started to rot, causing him to leave and mom to die? And where was it when Alfons got sick? All my life I have been taught that you can't get something for nothing, and here comes this wack job and all of a sudden everything that I know, everything that I believe is washed away. Isn't this just one more way for the Gate to say "screw you, Edward Elric"? No. I can't believe in magic. Because there is no way that there is never a price for something. Just like the stone, it may look like there is no cost, but there is…people's souls. The same principle must apply here. That wand thing is the key to it all. There must be alchemic amplifying materials in that thing, but on top of that, the cost has to be greater. For every alchemist, we use peoples souls from the other side of the gate. For the Philosophers Stone, we use peoples souls from our side of the gate. Which means that these so called wizards must use…_

Ed looked up in horror at the old man before him. "Here, Edward, sit down." Dumbledore motioned to the chair that he had just been hovering. Ed flinched away. _As if I would touch such an unholy thing. _Ed laughed at himself. _I'm starting to understand why the Ishballans hate alchemy. This magic is just wrong._

"No, no I'm fine." Ed said shakily as he made his way back over to the bed that he had been lying on earlier. Noticing the markings still engraved in the floor, Ed bent down, clapped his hands together and transmuted the floor back to the way that it had been before he had messed with it. Satisfied that everything was in its proper face, Ed finally laid back down on the bed.

After seeing Ed do the wand-less magic once again, Albus was thoroughly confused. He knew that he had seen it before, but he just couldn't place it. He focused on the unique blue lightning, hoping that it would trigger something. Suddenly he was 70 years younger and working with his friend on a project, who had inconveniently broken the nib on his quill. Before Albus could whip out his wand however, his friend had clapped his hands together and had placed it on the broken quill, which had cause large amounts of blue lightning to burst out of nowhere. An astonished Albus was even more flabbergasted when he realized that his raven-haired friend had fixed the quill without a wand. His friends name was Nicholas Flamel.

"You're an alchemist aren't you?" Dumbledore said, turning to Ed who was currently lying on the bed.

"Yeah." Ed said cautiously. "What's it to you?"

"So you are an alchemist then? A true alchemist?" Dumbledore said hopefully.

"Yeah, I'm a real alchemist. Not just any alchemist, in fact. A state alchemist, one of the best of the best. Why?" Ed asked.

"What are you going to do?" Albus asked.

"What do you mean, 'What am I going to do?'" Ed asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"What are you going to do once you get out of the hospital here?"

"I haven't really had a chance to think about it, well with just waking up and finding out that magic exists." Ed shuddered slightly. "But I don't know. I'm guessing try to find my brother, try to find a job."

_Perfect._ Albus thought. "Then I have a proposition for you. Call it Equivalent Exchange if you will."

"I'm listening." Ed said, though still slightly on edge.

"I need a teacher. And not just any teacher, an alchemy professor. And so far the person who is most qualified is you, so…"

"What?!" Ed yelled in disgust. "You're running a school?"

"Yes, in fact I'm headmaster for one of the most prestigious magic schools, Hogwarts School of…"

"I can't believe you!" Ed yelled, cutting Dumbledore off, once again. _It's enough to practice magic yourself, but to teach it to innocent children… _"No. NO! I won't do it!" Ed hopped out of bed and made his way over to the door.

"Be reasonable Edward." Dumbledore yelled. "Where are you going to go? You have no ID and no idea where or where you even are." Ed stopped, his hand on the door handle. "What year do you think this is?"

"1925." Ed stated as if it was the clearest thing in the world.

"Edward, it is 1995." Dumbledore stated. "Now how do you expect to walk out of here and blend in? Edward, I am offering you a chance."

"1995, huh? Well the Gate certainly likes to make things interesting for me." Ed mumbled under his breath. Then turning around to face Dumbledore, he said in a louder voice, "You said Equivalent Exchange. So if I'm going to be a teacher for you, then what do I get?"

Dumbledore smiled. _Almost have him. _"You can stay here, food and board are free. And you said that you are looking for your brother, correct?" Ed nodded. "Then any and all of my resources are open to you."

Ed paused. _It's a good deal, plus you can always leave when you want to. Besides, how else are you going to blend in to a place and time that you know nothing about? _Ed looked up at Dumbledore. "You've got yourself a deal."

"Wonderful." Dumbledore smiled. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Professor Elric."

* * *

Dear Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Year Students of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry,

My name is Edward Elric, and I am to be the new teacher for the Alchemy classes. Due to low enrollment rates we, the teachers at Hogwarts, have decided to send out this letter giving you the chance to enroll for the class this fall.

Alchemy as a subject is very hard and difficult to learn and understand. And I expect all of my students to realize that. This is not a subject that one can coast by on. It takes hard work and dedication to even begin to grasp the basics. Also, because contrary to popular notions, alchemy is a science, therefore there will be no magic used in my class. Period. This class will require much memorization of not only the subject itself, but also many basic Muggle science ideas, which will give you the building blocks for alchemy.

However the benefits to learning alchemy are numerous. Alchemy is the only subject that can teach you to defend yourself if you ever loose your wand. And I believe that this subject cannot be taught from a book. My class will be taught in a very hands on way.

On top of this, I believe that since a large benefit of alchemy is the ability to defend yourself without your wand, I will be going above and beyond that by also focusing on the ability to defend yourself through sparring and fighting in hand-to-hand combat.

For all the students who have taken Alchemy in the past, there will be a placement test to see which level you will belong. I will be breaking up the classes and sorting them based on abilities. Alchemy is extremely hard to understand and I want to make sure that all of my students have a firm grip on the basics before moving on.

Supplies that you will need for my class:

Paper, parchment

Pens, pencils, quills, ink (any writing utensil actually)

A large amount of white chalk (blackboard chalk will suffice)

Appropriate exercise clothing (This means tennis shoes, jogging shorts, t-shirts, use your common sense here)

A copy of the Muggle Table of Elements

I expect you all to have the Table of Elements and all of the elements properties memorized by the start of school. Attached is a liability waver for your parents/guardians to sign in order to participate. I look forward to meeting you all at the start of the year.

Signed,

Professor Edward Elric

**AN: Just for a few of you who were asking, this takes place Post COS and during the 5th book. I guess I should've made this alittle clearer. Also, cause I know that I wasn't very clear about this at all, but Ed thinks that the wizards get their power by using parts of their own soul to overcome Equivelant Exchange. I personally agree with Dumbledore that it is just magic and it can't be explained but Ed always needs an explaination. **

**On another note, I have no idea whether or not this is going to be moved to crossovers or not, so I hope that in the future it is not hard to find.**

**And 1 last thing, (its really the last one, I promise!!!!!!) I need a beta for this story. Badly. I am horrible at writing in 3rd person and unfortunatly I realized that I will probably have to end up writing in mainly 3rd person. So if you are interested, please PM me or review saying that you're interested.**

**Thanks a ton,**

**~Mayanpaw**


	4. Gringotts

**AN: Hello, sorry for taking sooo long to get this updated, but I had a horrible case of writers block going on. A BIG thanks to thegirlinred93 for bugging me and giving me inspiration for this fic. Another HUGE thanks to AliasAurora for beta-ing this. So because of that, this chapter is dedicated to you two, you guys have no idea how much you've helped me.**

Chapter 4

Minerva honestly worried about the sanity of Albus sometimes. Sure he had single-handedly defeated Grindelwald, was the only person that You-Know-Who was afraid of, and was her boss, but she was near certain that he had a screw loose somewhere - a thought that was only strengthened by the owl she had received this morning. She grumbled under her breath at the stupidity of the man and the inconvenience of the anti-apparation wards "protecting" the castle. After banging on the main doors for a good 5 minutes, Argus Filch finally opened the doors.

"Hello Minerva." He said gruffly, "I suppose you're here to see Dumbledore."

"Yes, I'm here about the boy." She replied, clearly irritated.

"Yes, curious thing that boy. I haven't seen him yet but the things that the ghosts say about him are… interesting." Filch finally opened the doors further, allowing Minerva inside. Wasting no time she made her way through the mazes of stone corridors to Dumbledore's office. After muttering the password (Fizzing Whizbee) to the gargoyle, she climbed the long spiral staircase and entered the office.

"Ah Minerva, I see you got my owl." The silver bearded man said without looking up. "I'm just finishing up some paperwork." He sighed and put the quill down and with a simple flick of the wrist, the parchment rolled up a disappeared with a loud CRACK! "I suppose that you'll want to be seeing Mr. Elric now."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about Albus. Are you sure about this boy? After what happened last year…"

"Minerva, I can assure you that I trust this man." Dumbledore said shortly and looked her straight in the eye. Minerva fidgeted a bit under the ice cold stare yet silenced her concerns for the moment. "The reason that I called you here is that Mr. Elric is wanting to go shopping for supplies for this years school year and is unfortunately very unfamiliar with this area and is woefully inept with our currency. Seeing as he is not from around here, I would like you to accompany him on his trips, be his tour guide if you will."

"Let me get this straight. So you called me away from my summer vacation just so I can take him shopping?" An incredulous McGonagall asked.

"No. I'd like you to watch over him and explain things to him, especially magic. He is horribly unknowledgeable about the area and has taken an… unfavorable liking to the subject. In fact, I'd say that he is rather hostile to the whole idea."

McGonagall looked at Dumbledore in shock. "And this is the man that you're hiring?! Someone who hates magic?!"

Albus looked up at her. "Yes. And it is your job to change that attitude."

Minerva sighed, exasperated. "What job will he be teaching if he hates magic so much?"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling with excitement and stated simply, "Alchemy."

* * *

Minerva soon found herself knocking on the door to the private quarters of the Alchemy Department. The last time she had been here was to inform the last professor that his mother had passed away, and that had to have been, what? Ten or fifteen years ago? And she had known that the old professor had been teaching a Hogwarts for at least 15 years before she had started. So to think that he was gone now just felt strange, much like Snape teaching anywhere else except the dungeons or Trelawney actually making sense.

Needless to say she was unsure of what to expect when it came to the new teacher. She was personally envisioning someone much like Nicholas Brown had been: old, stuffy and a book worm. She was not however expecting who had opened the door.

The man who opened the door (could you really consider him a man, he hardly looked older than any of her 7th years) was a walking contradiction. He was obviously short, yet the way he carried himself called for immediate respect. His long hair gave him an almost feminine feel yet his bulging muscles could be clearly seen through his plain, white button-up shirt. But the thing that left her the most confused was his eyes. His eyes were those of people much older then he could possibly be. They in fact reminded her of those of some of the more hardened Order members, of those who had seen too much. On top of that his eyes were so startlingly gold that she was sure that he had to have been a werewolf. Yet Dumbledore would've mentioned that he had hired a werewolf, much as he had done for Remus. So who was this person, she asked herself.

"Hello? How may I help you?" His voice broke her out of her contemplation and to her embarrassment, she realized that she had been staring.

"Mr. Elric?" She asked, wanting to make sure that she was talking to the right person.

"Yes, who are you?" The boy (?) asked and this time it hit her that he had an accent, yet not one that she could identify at all. It clearly sounded German, yet there was still a strange hint of something else, almost Asian-like. But none of those accounted for the fact of the rolled r's that nearly made her go weak in the knees.

_Get yourself together Minnie! He's nearly a kid!_ She mentally berated herself. "My name's Minerva McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore sent me to take you shopping."

The boy looked at her, as if he were measuring her up. Unconsciously, Minerva found herself straightening up under his gaze. "I'm pretty sure I didn't ask the old man for an escort."

McGonagall started choking. _Old man?! Calling Albus Dumbledore an old man was like calling Voldemort a minor annoyance. It's just not done! _

"Oh well, I guess I won't say no to a tour guide." Ed said, oblivious to McGonagall freaking out across from him. He quickly reached into his room and pulled out a long overcoat and shut the door behind him.

"Are you ready to go?" Ed asked, breaking Minerva out of her mini breakdown.

"Uh… yeah." McGonagall said, forcing herself to calm down. "Follow me."

_

* * *

_

Never again,

Ed vowed as he came falling out of the bright green fire, _NEVER again will I set foot near a fireplace._ Ed's skin was still crawling with the unnatural feeling of the flames licking his skin, feeling much to much like the horrible little arms of the children of the Gate. Desperate to be rid of the feeling he set about dusting himself off as well as he could, completely oblivious to the fact that the fireplace right behind him had roared to life. He soon found himself being bowled over by a very flushed McGonagall.

"O…oh. I-I'm sorry. Are you alright? A-Although for future reference y-you might want to move a-away from the f-fireplace o-once you're d-done w-with…" Ed's ice cold gaze cut Minerva's stuttering off mid-sentence, although it wasn't enough to calm the bright red color that had taken up permanent residence in her cheeks after knocking the poor man over.

"So where are we?" Ed asked as he stood up, and unconsciously dusted himself off some more. He had for the first time noticed that instead of being in the large office that had apparently belonged to Minerva, they were now in a dungy little pub - one that could probably give some of Central's more seedy bars a run for their money.

"The Leaky Cauldron." Minerva said proudly. _Well at least the name fits. _Ed thought with a rueful smile. "It's the entrance to magical London and is one of the more famous icons of the wizarding world."

Ed couldn't help it any more and let out a quick laugh. Noticing the confused frown on McGonagall's face he explained, "Well don't you think that for the entrance to magical London you might want something a little more…impressive?"

Minerva ignored the boy's question. "So if you'll follow me I'll take you to the entrance to Diagon Alley, where I'm sure that we can get most of the things that you need."

Ed followed Minerva as they wove their way throughout the bar and out to the back of the building. "You're kidding me, right?" Ed said as he took in the sparse courtyard, which held nothing more then a few old trash cans, a couple of beer bottles, and a few weeds sprouting out of the cracks between the massive court wall and the cement floor. "I'm supposed to believe that this," he motioned to the courtyard around him, "is supposed to be the entrance to the magical world?"

"Give me a moment, Mr. Elric." McGonagall said, clearly irritated. She took out her wand and began to tap seemingly random bricks, all throughout which Ed rolled his eyes. _Of course, the magical wand. The one object in the world that will actually take parts of people's souls from their body and convert it into the energy necessary to bypass Equivalent Exchange. And of course, nobody sees anything wrong with it. I swear, people have certainly gotten stupider in the future, or they just don't care about the condition of their souls anymore. _

Ed was broken out of his thoughts as the wall in front of him started to change shape and morph into a large brick archway. Ed's mood suddenly got much darker. _I could've done that in a split second, yet here she is using up a piece of her soul. Oh yes, the wonders of magic._ Throughout Ed's thoughts he could barely make out McGonagall saying, "Welcome to Diagon Alley."

Together the two wove their way throughout the brightly colored street, with Ed looking more disgusted at each shop, except maybe Flourish and Blotts. Each store seemed to flaunt magic, even the ice cream shop! Ed shuddered at the amount of energy that must have been needed to overcome Equivalent Exchange and where the energy came from. However his worst shock was encountered when they reached a large, white marble building.

"This is Gringotts. It's the wizarding bank, so therefore is naturally the first stop before we go shopping." Minerva explained as they entered the doors, not noticing that Ed had stopped dead in his tracks.

"What the hell is this?" Ed said in a voice that chilled Minerva to her very bones. She turned around to see Ed looking like he could very easily kill someone.

"W-what are you talking about Mr. Elric?" Minerva couldn't keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Do you think this is some kind of fucking joke?!" Ed snarled.

Minerva was now thoroughly terrified. _What could be causing this kind of reaction?_ She desperately looked around but couldn't find anything that could possibly be causing Ed to act like he was. Then her eyes stopped. _The goblins._

"You know what? Screw this. I don't need this fucking job, especially around people as sick as you." Ed spit and turned around, storming off through the crowd.

_Oh no._ "Ed! Wait!" She yelled as she plunged into the crowd, fighting her way through the mass of bodies who were not separating for her like they had done for Ed, obviously in an attempt to stay out of the way of the livid alchemist. "Mr. Elric! Come back here!"

Ed stormed his way through the crowd taking a perverse pleasure in the fact that the crowd of …monsters, _yes that would be an adequate way to describe people who created those many chimeras_, were clearing a path for him, obviously in no rush to come into contact with a person who was in such a murderous mood.

Of course, his luck could not last. He found himself being forced to go through a large crowd of people, who were all muttering to each other while looking at their newspapers. Not wanting to stay in the sickening alley anymore, Ed found himself forcing his way through, ignoring the rather rude stares that he was receiving.

"Excuse me." A young voice sneered at him. Ed ignored the voice, wanting nothing more then to leave this world behind (Ok, he wanted nothing more then to punch a few people, go on a rant or two, and just go home, but sometimes you just have to settle.) Ed tried to make his way through the crowd again when a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Ed was now furious. He swung around to see just who had the audacity to grab him. Facing him was a small blond teen who had the look of an over-pampered aristocrat. The boy continued in the type of snobby voice that made you want to automatically punch someone. "Do you know who I am? I expect an apology, now!"

Ed was beyond words right now. Taking his right hand, he grabbed the boy's hand, which was still placed on his shoulder. Then, using more force then was probably necessary (he was ignoring the few snapping sounds that he had heard) he forcefully removed the hand from his shoulder. To top it all off, he gave the boy a glare that made him shrivel and said in a deathly calm voice, "I'm sorry to have run into you, little boy." He then released the boy's hand and made his way through the crowd.

He had almost made it all the way to the old pub when a voice called out to him. _Just ignore her Ed._ A voice said, sounding eerily like Al's. "Mr. Elirc, please wait!" A panting Minerva said as she ran around in front of Ed, effectively cutting him off. Ed simply stood there and glared. _Damn it, I knew that I shouldn't have wasted my time on the boy._ "Please Mr. Elric, I can explain." She was now practically begging.

"Then explain." Ed said icily as Minerva continued to gasp for air.

"First…" she took in a great gulp of air, "I need to know…" another gulp, "why you reacted the way you did. "

Ed glared at her. _Are they really this used to this horrible perversion of alchemy that they don't even care about the monstrosities that they themselves created?_ A small, soft, child-like voice spoke out of the shadows of his memories. "_Let's play."_ Ed forced himself to swallow the sob that threatened to force its way out.

"The problem," he said, well aware of the fact that his voice was shaking, "is that that poor thing…" he tried to calm himself, but he knew that he was failing horribly, "is a chimera. And you people don't seem to give a damn about it!" He was now shouting and the few people who hadn't been looking at them before were defiantly now staring.

_Chimera? What's a chimera? Isn't that just a mix between a lion, goat and dragon? Why on earth would he think a goblin was a chimera? _"No Mr. Elric. That was a goblin. They both run and guard Gringotts. They are most definatly not chimeras. In fact, most goblins would take offence at being compared to such beasts." Minerva said in her best teaching voice.

Ed bristled at her last phrase. _Nina was most certainly never a beast. The person who created her was a beast, but never poor innocent Nina. But maybe… maybe these people never created these so called goblins. Of course they're chimeras, no doubt about that. Definatly human mixed with… something reptilian. But no one knows if chimeras can mate, and what their offspring would look like, or if they can even have offspring. Maybe these… goblins are the offspring of chimeras that were created long ago. _The more that Ed thought about it, the more he agreed with his theory. _Yes, that's correct. These people believe in magic. If they think that the tricks that they perform have no side effects, then of course they're going to believe that goblins aren't chimeras._

"Mr. Elric please, you can't leave. We _need_ you." Minerva was now begging, oblivious to the shocked faces in the crowd who had never seen Minerva McGonagall beg for anything.

Ed stayed in one spot. He didn't respond, however he didn't storm into the pub and out into muggle London, so Minerva took that as a good sign at least. He was listening to her, she had a chance. "I'm going to be returning to Gringotts now and I need to know how much money to withdraw, and that all depends on you." She knew it was risky, forcing him to decide, but she knew there was a greater chance of him deciding to leave if she allowed him to contemplate. After all, she had already used up her best argument and she still had no idea what was so wrong to him about a chimera. _Must be an alchemy thing. _

After an eternity - to Minerva at least - Ed finally muttered a barely audible "Fine."

"Wonderful! Now if you'll just follow me, we can make our way back to Gringotts…"

"I'm not going." Ed said, cutting her off.

Panic rose within her. "But Mr. Elric, you said that you'd…"

"No." He said firmly. "I said that I'd go back to the school. However I will not set foot inside that building. You can go without me."

Seeing that it was his final offer, Minerva sighed. "I shall meet you back at the Leaky Cauldron in 20 minutes." And with that she turned around and briskly walked back into the crowd.

Ed turned around and walked into the pub, ignoring the stares and murmurings of the crowd around him. Walking up to the bartender he asked the one thing that he had been dying to ask ever since he had come to this godforsaken place, "So what's the strongest thing that I can get here?"

**AN: I'm really conflicted about the crossover catagories and I'm not sure whether or not I should move my story into it. Please PM me or tell me in a review whether or not you think I should move it or keep it where it is.**

**~ Mayanpaw**


	5. Firewhisky

**AN: This chapter is dedicated to all of the Powderpuff Juniors (including me XD) out there who kicked butt today- especially Thegirlinred93 (YOU WERE AMAZING OUT THERE!!!!!!!!) who was injured on the battle field- and showed the Seniors that loosing honorably is better then winning by cheating.**

**I have also recieved a couple of replies about Minerva being a bit out of character, which I can totally see. The reason I write her like I am though is the fact that not only is Edward Elric an... attractive young male, but as Dumbledore was fearing in the 1st chapter, the Ministry will likely replace Ed if he leaves with one of their own "Ministry Approved Achedemics" or something like that. So Minerva begging him not to leave was yes, out of the normal (as seen by the many shocked patrons of the Leaky Cauldron) but necessary. XD**

**However, the reviews were wonderful as they made me kick myself for not making any of that clearer, so thank you to all of you who reviewed. (YOU GUYS ROCK!)**

**Also, I will be moving this story to the crossover section later tonight, just to give all of you a heads-up.**

**So here is the next chapter of What Lies Beyond the Veil (warning it be unbetaed, proceed at your own risk). Ejoy!**

Chapter 5

Rubeus Hagrid was in a good mood that day. Not to say that it was a rare thing for him to be in a good mood, oh no, but he was still in a good mood nonetheless. He had been sent on an errand for Dumbledore - a fact that always made him proud - and despite the large crowds he had finished his task with time to spare.

So it was in good spirits that Hagrid entered the Leaky Cauldron after figuring that he had enough money for a pint of mead or maybe a brandy. Once inside he was greeted by the many "regulars" and the others who knew him from Hogwarts. However as he walked over to Tom there was one face that he realized that he didn't know, a rare occurrence in the wizarding community.

"Hello Hargrid! What'll you be having?" Tom said cheerfully.

Looking down at the small pile of coins in his hands he replied, "Better make it a brandy Tom. Don' get paid till next week." As the bartender poured his drink Hagrid eyed the man sitting at the bar curiously. "So who's this feller?" Hagrid asked the bartender.

"Don't rightly know Hagrid. Though I must say that this boy here is well on his way to breaking your record for the most firewhiskies downed in an hour." Tom said with a touch of admiration in his voice.

Hagrid looked at the blond haired boy again. "Really? This lil' thing?"

"Yep, he's well onto his 8th bottle."

If there was any sign that Ed was listening he wasn't showing it. His eyes were glazed and his mind was a world away. The only thing anchoring to the present was the bottle of alcohol in his hand. _So far, this is the best thing that the "magical world" has shown me. Though this has nothing on a good glass of whisky._

He stared down into the golden liquid. _Why is everything colored gold? _His mind drifted to the golden hair that was in his minds eye every night. _Winry. _Unfortunately, those thoughts turned towards the other blonde that he tried desperately to forget: Rockefeller. To him, they were starting to become impossible to separate (especially to his drunken mind), a thought that made him sick. _Rockefeller is just a reflection, a cheep imitation. How can I even compare her to Winry? My Winry? What would she think of me? She'd hate me. She probably already does. _

Ed's thoughts continued to get darker and darker. He knew why Al didn't like Ed drinking, especially by himself. It wasn't just the fact that it was considered a federal offence, no it was easy enough to get around that. The simple fact was that Ed tended to get lost in the alcohol. What had begun as a seemingly innocent way to celebrate on a breakthrough with his coworkers had turned into a crutch for Ed.

Alcohol had always been a weakness for Ed. After crossing the Gate for the first time, he had relied it in order to keep some of the worst dreams at bay. Yet after crossing the Gate for the 2nd time, the dreams had only worsened and the appearance of Rockefeller had only made it worse. He had no clue how Al handled everything, especially after receiving all of his memories back at once. _But Al's always been stronger then you. _Whatever he did, Ed couldn't and thus he relied on the alcohol to numb his world.

A large shadow fell over him and Ed's subconscious automatically supplied a source. _Armstong. _

Forgetting where he was, he turned around to greet his friend that he had missed so much. However, the man standing behind him was **not **Armstrong, or even Sig. Tilting his head to the side he tried to figure out who the man was until his alcohol laden mind finally caught up with him. _You're on a different side of the Gate, you idiot! Sig's not here and Armstrong sure as hell isn't here. Even Al isn't here. You are all alone. _

"Hello there, my name's Hagrid. I don' think I've seen yeh around here. What's yer name?" The giant bushy man said kindly, offering out his large paw of a hand.

"Edward Elric." Ed said softly, working hard to keep a slur out of his voice.

The huge man looked at him, suddenly very interested. "Now yeh wouldn't happen to be stayin' Hogwarts, now would ya'?"

"Umm yeah. Actually I'm going to be the new Alchemy teacher." Ed said as the words leaked through his alcohol laden mind.

"So _yer_ the Edward Elric that McGonagall was grumbling about!"

Ed perked up at the mention of the name. "Oh? And what did she say?"

The man, Hagrid - Ed believed his name was - laughed merrily. "Ah, not much, I don' believe. Just grumblin' 'bout the, oh how did she put it? Oh yes, 'The stupid ministry placing inept teachers in her school and the measures that Dumbledore was going to in order to prevent that.'"

Ed laughed out loud at Hagrid's attempt to copy Minerva's accent. "I was wondering why she was so insistent on me staying."

"Yeah," the giant man said, "the ministry is stickin' it's nose where it don't belong."

Ed smiled knowingly. "Well isn't that the tendency of all governments?"

Hagrid laughed loudly and slapped Ed on the back, jolting him forward. "I like yah already Ed. Yer not anything like the old Professor Brown, yer much more fun. Yeh should come by my house durin' the school year." Sighing, he bent down and picked up the many packages at his feet. "Well, I'd best be off now, 'sides I think McGonagall is waiting fer yeh."

Ed glanced over at the door where Minerva was in fact waiting for him, her nose wrinkled in clear disapproval at Ed's large pile of glass bottles surrounding him. He chuckled as Hagrid winked at him as he passed behind her. Then - after making sure he had swallowed every last drop that the bottle contained - he followed Minerva out into the loud and crowded streets of Diagon Alley.

An awkward silence fell over them as they stood in the street. "I'm not drunk, you know." Ed said, trying to break the ice.

Minerva eyed him, clearly skeptical. "I highly doubt that Mr. Elric. Even Hagrid has trouble staying sober after ingesting that amount of alcohol."

Ed laughed. "Well I highly doubt that Hagrid has had as much, shall we say, _practice_ as I have. Besides, that firewhisky has nothing on a good glass of whisky." He looked around at the brightly colored alley. "So, where are we going?"

"It's honestly up to you, Mr. Elric. Although I would suggest the bookstore first."

Ed looked around and spotted the large bookstore. Feeling the effects of the alcohol beginning to thin and his inner academic coming out, he agreed that the bookstore would be the best place to go, not only to find books, but to avoid the worst effects of the hangover that he was certain was going to hit.

As he entered Flourish and Blotts, he was pleased to find that it was much like a normal store - despite the unusual subjects of the books. While Minerva asked an employee where the books on Alchemy might be, Ed decided to look around.

The sheer amount of books astounded him, especially given the nature of their content. After all, how hard could magic be? Unlike alchemy where you had to know the rules, complex equations, and even the intricate details of chemistry, magic by nature had no rules. So far he had yet to hear anyone utter a single word when performing this so called "magic". So how then did anyone even come up with enough ideas to fill even half these books?

"Ah, Mr. Elric. There you are." Minerva said, as she eyed the section that he was currently standing in. "Divination… complete rubbish in my opinion." She then led him away to a small, dustier section of the book store labeled _The Obscure Arts_. "The employee said that this is where all of the books on alchemy should be found." She said in response to the look that Ed was giving her.

Deciding to keep his mouth shut for the moment, he started to browse through the books. Although it really shouldn't have surprised him by now, the sheer number of inaccuracies were astounding. They treated alchemy like it was some long-forgotten art that was steeped in mystery and ritual rather then science and fact. The only interesting book that he had found so far was a book entitled _Notable Alchemists Throughout History_. Deciding to read the book backwards to try and learn about the more "modern" alchemists, he was dismayed to find that there was only one: Nicholas Flamel who was renown for creating his Philosophers Stone, which had been recently destroyed by one Albus Dumbledore (Ed could feel his blood practically boiling at this), and was currently living in France, awaiting his "next great adventure", whatever that meant.

Wondering if he could find any more information on the Philosophers Stone (old habits die hard) he continued to flip through the book, going further back in time until a certain entry caught his eye and he froze.

_1493_

_Auroleus Philipus Theostratus Bombastus von Hohenheim, more commonly known as Paracelsus but better known to friends as Hohenheim or "Hohenheim of Light" first comes into the public eye. Very little is known about his early life but his is well known for his contributions to medicine and alchemy, having been called a prodigy in each of the areas. According to accounts of people that knew him, he was a very gentle person and very private. Although there are no known portraits of him, people report that he was very tall and had striking golden eyes, leading many to speculate whether or not he was affected by lycanthropy. He fades from the public eye in 1542 where it is commonly believed that he died of a brief illness, yet that fact is still disputed over even today._

Ed let out a dark laugh. _There's no doubt about it, that's my dad alright. _He then let out a melancholic sigh. _What a bastard. _


	6. The Maze

**AN: I know how long that it has been since I've last updated this, and I have no excuse except the one call real life. I would really like to thank Thegirlinred93 for keeping me motivated and at times _actually_ forcing me to write, so yeah. The only reason that this exists is because of her, so THANK YOU! **

**I'd also like to thank all of the wonderful reviews that I got on this story, they really did motivate me. In particular there was one that I got while I was writing this chapter that was extremely kind and thoughtful and I wanted to say that you for that.**

**So, without any further adieu, here's the next chapter. **

Chapter 6

Edward eased back into the plushiest chair in his chambers and looked around the room with a sigh. Piles of packages and bulging bags filled the antechamber leading into his office and he could already feel his muscles seizing up. Ed usually hated shopping, but this had been nothing short of torture.

For four torturous hours he had been dragged all over the god-forsaken alley, buying the most mundane, trivial, useless items that he could think of. He had been dragged through countless quill stores, had been forced to sample nearly every brand of ink that that god forsaken woman could think of, and if he saw one more scrap of paper, Ed could guarantee that he would go Mustang and torch the whole lot of them.

To top it off, McGonagall had wanted to buy him dresses. Oh yes he knew that they were referred to as robes and that "no self respecting wizard would be seen without them," but there was no way in hell that he would wear a dress. Besides, it wasn't as though he was actually a wizard. He was an alchemist. There was a difference.

Thankfully he had saved himself from the dreaded robes by sneaking out of the robes store into the "Muggle world." There he had bought himself some real clothes, interesting books and had stood in wonder at all of the new technological advances. In fact, McGonagall had had to physically drag him away from a television store.

What had resulted from the horrible experience was the enormous pile of … stuff in front of him. Not wanting to deal with sorting through the packages, Ed decided to explore the castle in an attempt to familiarize himself with the area that he would soon be spending the majority of his time in.

Having made up his mind, he struggled past the many packages containing class related items, hit his hip on the "borrowed" piano that he was "storing", and nearly knocked over a bottle of whisky that he had smuggled into the castle. Once he made it to the door, Ed let out a sigh of relief. _Now_ he could relax with a leisurely stroll around the castle.

Oh god how he'd been wrong.

It had been around 3 hours since he had left the sanctuary of his room (as far as he could tell by the ever changing shadows) and all he wanted was to return and never leave again.

In the hours since he had left, he had not seen _anyone_ wandering the halls. That coupled with long corridors which seemed to go on forever gave him a very strong feeling that somebody could die in the castle and nobody would notice nor find the body for years. This feeling was making him paranoid, and he was now beginning to swear that the staircases were moving and that the pictures were watching him.

Deciding that if he was going to die in this maze of stone walls, then he might as well not put his already tired body through anymore torture. He slid down the wall and closed his eyes, reveling in the relief off of his aching joints and the complete silence around him. _Really_, he thought, _it might not be the most impressive way to go, but there are a hell of a lot worse ways._

"May I help you?" A deep, drawling voice asked, causing Ed to jump up.

"No, not really." Ed said in an attempt to maintain at least some of his dignity. The tall, dark figure merely raised his eyebrow in response. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"I could ask you the very same question."

"Yes, you could. However, I've asked you first."

The figure drew a wand out of the folds of his cloak. "The only people who should still be in this institution are Dumbledore, Hagrid, and Filch. As you are neither of these people, I highly suggest that you answer me."

"Listen buddy, I've been conned into a job that I don't want by some nut case, I've been dragged all around by some lady with a stick stuck up her ass, and if by some miracle I make it out of the god dammed maze that you call a school, I will still be stuck teaching some ignorant brats something that none of them will _ever_ have a snowball's chance in hell of understanding. So _excuse_ me if I'm not in the particular mood to tell you my name."

The figure stood silently, as if eyeing him up to decide whether or not he was worthy. Edward unconsciously straightened up under the gaze, his years in the military catching up to him. Finally, having made up his mind, the man turned around and walked away.

"The entrance to the main hall is to your left at the end of the corridor."

He paused at the end of the hall, his back still to Ed.

"My name is Severus."

Then he was gone.

* * *

It was August 10th and Hermione was exhausted. She had been cleaning Grimmauld Place for what had seemed like weeks and despite all of the work that they had been doing, the place still felt as dark and creepy as the day that she had first stepped onto the property. To be honest, the lack of progress and the general atmosphere of the place had left her feeling depressed. She could sympathize with poor Sirius. If she had been stuck in this place as long as he had, she was sure that she would've gone mad.

Luckily, a letter had arrived for her and the other Hogwarts students that had been residing in the giant house. It had been in regards to a class that Hogwarts would be offering and Hermione was very obviously excited.

The class sounded _prefect_. It not only did it combine her love of magic with her Muggle heritage, it was _useful_. Not that any of her other classes weren't useful, but it seemed that this alchemy class would have immediate benefits. And to be totally honest with herself, she had been extremely curious about alchemy after her first year and the whole incident with the Philosophers Stone.

To top it off, the teacher sounded absolutely fascinating. Not only must he be a skilled wizard in order to teach at Hogwarts, but he also sounded like he was well versed in science – one of the subjects that she had sorely missed after leaving the Muggle world for Hogwarts. It was now a great joy for her to find that she would finally have a teacher that was extremely pro-Muggle. Not that any of the teachers were Muggle haters. Even Snape wasn't a bigoted bastard like the rest of the house that he represented. (No, he was an equal opportunity hater, despising non-Slytherin Muggle-borns and pure-bloods alike.) But still it would be a nice change, having someone _actually_ understand the Muggle world. None of her teachers had understood her Muggle background. Even her Muggle Studies class had been a joke.

There was just one thing that she was _not_ looking forward to however, and that was the physical portion of the class. Hermione was a grown female; she could admit her short comings. And physical fitness was definitely one of hers. She had hated P.E. in her Primary School. Not only had she been terrible at all of the sports that she had been forced to endure, but it had furthered the social gap between her and the other children in her class. She had never seen the use of taking part in an activity with a high injury rate that prioritized brawn over brain, and the other children couldn't understand why she didn't enjoy football.

And now Hogwarts was implementing a class with a physical aspect. Even though she could rationalize the benefits to the self defense portion of the class, the irrational fear and hate that she associated with Physical Education still lingered. Hell, if she couldn't even ride a broom, how on earth did they expect her to perform well in hand-to-hand combat? _At least this time I'll have Harry and Ron with me._

And it was true. She had convinced both Harry and Ron to take the class with her. Both had been lured in by different things; Ron by the combat part of the class and Harry by the ability to still be able to do magic without a wand (for Hermione this made a lot of sense after the Graveyard incident at the end of last year.)

But she was also worried about her boys. This class seemed like it would be a difficult class. Hermione felt that she _should_ be fine, especially with her work ethic and her background. But she worried about Ron and Harry. Ron came from a wizarding family, and had no scientific background. Harry however had a Muggle upbringing like Hermione, yet he shared Ron's lack of academic… interest. This Professor Elric had said that his class was going to be hard; therefore Hermione was going to give her boys all of the help that she could give.

"HERMIONE! LUNCH TIME!" Mrs. Weasly's voice rang through the house disturbing her train of thought, along with the giant spider webs that she had been attempting to clean. Sighing she put down the feather duster and picked the remains of the web out her hair. She sighed. _I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts._

**AN: Just to let you guys know, the football that I am referring to is the kind that actually involves your foot kicking the ball, not the strange game of Pigball that us Americans play.**

**And I was EXTREMELY tempted to have Hermione's last sentence be "I gotta get back to Hogwarts" just for a tribute to the AMAZING AVPM and AVPS.**

**I hope that you enjoyed! **


	7. The Welcoming Feast

**AN: And here is the next chapter. Reminder, I try to write as Ed would act and talk, which means that his choices in language are not going to be skirted around.**

Chapter 7

At the start of every year there was a traditional meeting that only the senior professors of Hogswarts were aware of. It was one where Dumbledore and the staff would "critically analyze and discuss" the incoming staff and students. In short, it was a time to gossip.

"Albus, is it _true_ that the Defense teacher this year is from the Ministry?" Minerva asked.

Dumbledore opened his mouth, but was swiftly cut off by Rolanda Hooch. "Oh yes, I've met her once. And let me just say that she is definitely the Ministers… _toady_." The woman then smirked as if at an inside joke.

"Good, then hopefully she can instill some discipline on _some_ of our students." Severus said causing Minerva to puff up in indignation.

"Oh no Severus," Pomona Sprout replied, thankfully cutting of Minerva from what would have been a long and loud shouting match, "this woman may work for the Ministry, but she is as lawless as they come. As long as it serves to further the plans of the Minister, than _nothing_ is too low for her."

"She is a horrid bigot!" Rolanda cried. "I won't even repeat what that disgusting – _creature _ – said!"

"I must request – Hagrid, Argus, Filius – that you keep an eye out for yourselves. She is a very narrow-minded woman, and while I would normally like to give most new teachers the benefit of the doubt, I am well aware of her character and I would hate to see any of you fall afoul of her."

"Aw Professor. There's nothin' that she could do ter me."

The entirety of the staff gave Hagrid looks, ranging from pity to exasperation.

"I will also need all of you to keep an extra eye out on the new Muggle-borns this year." The staff all mumbled in agreement at this. None of them were willing to let a poor first year fall into her clutches.

"What about that new Elric boy?" Irma Pince inquired. She had already seen a lot of him in the library – researching Merlin knows what- and had taken a liking to the quiet man.

"He can take care of himself." Severus said, startling many.

"Someone should look after him! He's barely an adult!" Minerva scolded back to the general agreement of most in the room.

He scoffed. "That man hasn't been a child for a long time."

Minerva was about to yell back, when a hand fell on her shoulder. She looked up to the strangely downcast blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore.

"I have to agree with Severus on this issue, Minerva." McGonagall stared back at her boss, mentor, and friend, his eyes asking her to not challenge him. She tore her eyes away and nodded her tentative acceptance.

"Well now that that matter is taken care of, might I suggest that we all get ready and head down to the feast? The students should be arriving any time now." Dumbledore said with an easy smile, and just like that, the meeting was over.

* * *

Edward Elric was not happy.

He was stuck sitting at a large, long table which meant that he would inevitably be the main center of attraction. He understood the "reasoning" of having all of the professors present at the first dinner of the year, but he would've much preferred having dinner alone in his room with his bottle of whisky. And of course prudence stated that he couldn't drink in front of the students because "that would be setting a bad example."

To make matters worse, he was stuck sitting next to a woman (and he used that term loosely) who could've easily been mistaken for a toad chimera. Not only did she have the physical attributes that marked her as an escaped experiment gone wrong, but she was also gifted with the mental capabilities of her froggy familiars.

Edward had hated her the moment that he had laid eyes on her – and the feeling was mutual. When he had been introduced to the Umbitch three days ago, he had watched as the woman's expression had gone from sickeningly sweet to downright loathing in the instant that she had laid her eyes on him. She had refused to even consider shaking his hand which Edward was eternally grateful for, because that would've meant actually touching her. He had then listened to her rant in a freakishly high and shrill voice to Dumbledore about "the deplorable condition of the current educators" and "the need to purify the school of such filthy" and most importantly "that the Ministry will be notified"; even the Master of Twinkles and Sunshine hadn't been able to keep his face from darkening as the foolish woman spoke.

And now he was stuck sitting next to her for the entire dinner. The only saving grace was that he had also been assigned next to Severus. They had seemed to have come to an _understanding_ of sorts – leave me alone, and I will leave you alone in return. And that was truthfully all that he wanted, to be left alone. The rest of the staff was comprised entirely out of busybodies. He was constantly bombarded day and night by offers for assistance and friendly invitations for tea – all of which were horribly veiled attempts to have a chance to get some information out of him. Maybe it had been because of the illegal activities that he had partaken in as a child and teenager, or maybe it was just because of the general atmosphere of the military, but Edward Elric had realized at a very early age that secrets can – and will – kill. And so to have so many people (strangers nonetheless!) expecting him to spill all of his deepest, darkest, secrets; he was understandably annoyed. It had gotten so bad that he had taken to shutting himself in his quarters just to get away from them.

So Edward Elric suffered through an agonizing dinner where he spent a large amount of energy just trying to ignore not only the vile thing on his right but the innumerous stares of the little brats who it would soon be his "honor" to teach therefore he ate little of his "magically" transported dinner. Although he was not happy about it, he had realized that almost all of the food was either made or transported with magic, and that if he wanted to eat he would have to just suck it up and ignore "magic's" involvement.

By the time that Dumbledore had begun his post-feast speech, Ed was ready to bolt to his room, lock the door, and down the closest bottle of alcohol. He was finally able to see the end of the old man's rambling when an irritating noise broke through his repeated mantra of "please let me leave, please let me leave."

"Hem hem."

The entire hall was silent. Every pair of eyes, from the smallest, newly sorted first year, to Dumbledore himself, turned to look at the disgusting woman in disbelief.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." As the _thing_ continued with her dull, over-rehearsed speech, Ed narrowed his eyes in unwelcome recognition. It was disturbingly similar to the military approved propaganda that had besieged Amestris before the coup that he had helped lead – along with the apathy and ignorance that the students were showing.

As his mind raced with the implications of what she was saying, he barely registered when Umbridge had finally stopped talking and Dumbledore had taken over. It was only a small smattering of applause that had alerted Ed to the fact that he had just been introduced to the entire school populous. Soon after, Dumbledore then released them from dinner and he was one of the first ones out of the Great Hall – which was a good thing because there was no one around to hear him start swearing about a student yelling out for all of the "midgets."

Ed spent the rest of the night with his bottle of whisky contemplating what was going on – and more importantly – how it would interfere with his attempts to get back home.

**AN: And yes, on page 215 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ron says, and I quote " 'Oh yeah,' said Ron, who had obviously forgotten. 'Hey - hey you lot! Midgets!' " It was too perfect not to use. XD**


	8. Hermione

**AN: BWAHAHAHAHA! Take THAT writers block!**

**... Seriously though, after doing NaNoWriMo my muse was completely gone. Thankfully though, some of those reviews really kicked my butt into gear. So I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. You guys are honestly one of the main reasons that I keep writing. So anyways, I hope that you enjoy.**

Chapter 8

Hermione woke up precisely at six o'clock in the morning (as she did every morning during the school year) and took her shower before all of the other Gryffindor girls could come in, use up all of the hot water, chatter incessantly, and clutter up the counter with an endless supply of make-up and potions in thousands of different shades of colour. After her fifteen minute shower she wandered back into the dormitory where the other girls had yet to rise and she slipped into her uniform and took the three minutes to run some curl cream through her thick hair. (It was a trick that she had learned from Lavender for the Yule Ball and she had found that it _did_ make her look less… fuzzy.) She then gathered all of her books and her bag and made her way downstairs to the common room (the library was not open yet) to begin revising all of her summer homework and her summer reading – and this was all before seven am.

Hermione smiled to herself as she flipped through the notes that she had taken over the summer holidays. It had always felt good to her to get back to her regular school routine. While she was eternally grateful to Ron and Harry for being her best friends, she would still always value learning. And any small piece of knowledge could be invaluable now that Voldemort had returned. With that thought in her mind she once again dove into her revising, with much more enthusiasm than before.

* * *

Breakfast in the Great Hall on the first day of classes was always one of the loudest, eclipsed only by the End of the Year feast… and of course all of the feasts directly after the inevitable dangerous feats that occurred each year. This year's breakfast was no exception.

There was the general chatter about who did what over the holiday, who had grown tall, who had grown hot. Then there was the talk about what was in the news. Were Dumbledoor and Harry Potter really mad, or was you-know-who really back? And which one would be the worse one to believe?

And then of course there was the talk about the new professors. As usual there was the standard whinging about Snape and the homework that he had assigned (_"Professor_ Snape, Ron. Honestly.") Then there was the talk and rumours about the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher: What were they like? What would they teach? How much work would they be assigned?

And this year there was another subject which had been added to the rumour mill: the new Alchemy professor. Most of the students hadn't even known that there even _was_ an Alchemy class before the summer, and the very few students who had taken the class before had said that it was horrid. Yet that had been with the old Professor Brown. The new professor ("Elric was it?"), seemed so different. He was young, mysterious and (according to the majority of the girls) handsome. And the fact that he was missing from breakfast only was fuel to the fire that were the rumours.

When Hermione walked into the Great Hall with Harry and Ron flanking her sides, she too was inundated with the whispers.

"So young… how old do you think he is?"

"Did you see the way he dressed?"

"Yellow eyes."

"So gorgeous, you never see blokes with long hair."

"Can't be much older than me…"

"He's a _teacher_."

"Disgusting, there's no way he's a Pureblood."

"… maybe he's a werewolf. Won't be the first time we've had one."

"He is _so_ hot."

Hermione shot a glare at the girl as she walked past.

"Honestly, don't they have more interesting things to talk about? They are treating him as if he is some slab of meat." She grumbled to a still half-asleep Ron and Harry as she sat down on one of the benches at the table.

"Oh come on Granger, like you can talk." Parvarti said as she nibbled on the lone piece of toast that she allowed herself each morning. "We all know how you are always so hot to trot for teacher."

"I am not!" She shrieked, choosing to ignore the snickers coming from Ron and Harry.

"Yes you are." Lavender said with her mouth still half full of food. "First it was Lockheart, then Lupin, now it's Elric. Not to mention Sn-"

"Shut up!" She interrupted, her face bright red.

Parvarti smirked. "Like any one of them would fall for a frumpy, little know-it-all like you."

"And you think a tart like yourself would have any better of a chance? You're underage and to put it politely, you are as dull as a pigmy puff. " She shot back nastily.

"Yeah, well you are as hairy as Hagrid and you aren't any older than me." Parvarti shot back at her with a death glare.

Hermione gave her a sinister smile. "At least I'm not trying to get into his pants."

Parvati immediately clammed up, her face beginning to show the tell-tale reddening around her cheeks as she went back to eating the lone piece of toast. _Victory!_ She thought triumphantly knowing that the little… witch had not had a valid comeback.

Satisfied, Hermione turned back around to face Harry and Ron who were currently sniggering into their glasses. Hermione shot them a glare which effectively shut them up and feeling smug with her abilities she poured herself a mug of Twinnings English Breakfast tea.

"Seriously though 'Mione, lay off of them. They're just excited is all. It's really not all _that _bad." Ron said as he heaped a pile of eggs onto his plate.

"Yes it is!" Hermione said looking in exasperation at both Ron and Harry. "It's absolutely degrading to treat someone like they're only one dimensional. Don't you understand?" She asked the two of them.

Ron and Harry simply turned and looked at each other.

"Of course 'Mione." Harry said unconvincingly while Ron rolled his eyes, not even pretending to agree with her.

Hermione felt a sinking feeling in her chest at Ron's reaction and the painful, age old saying popped into her head. _Boys will be boys._

* * *

The Golden Trio were fuming as they walked out of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and met up with Harry on the way to their next class – which just happened to be Alchemy.

"That absolute BITCH!" Ron yelled as soon as he was free of the doorway. It was a sign of just how mad Hermione was that she did not even pause to berate Ron. In fact she herself was shaking in so much anger that it was painfully clear that she agreed completely with Ron's statement.

"What… what does she think she's doing? How does she think that we are going to learn anything if we don't practice? After all, it's our OWL year!"

"Oh I'd like to practice alright… I'd like to practice some curses all over her arse after what she said about Harry." At that bit both Ron and Hermione turned and glanced nervously at their best friend.

Harry had been completely silent ever since he had come back from his meeting with Professor McGonagall. He walked along hunched over, surrounded by a dark aura, and his face was twisted into a look that could – well not kill exactly – but certainly maim and torture while doling out a deafening one-sided shouting match. He stalked down the hallway with such an intense single-mindedness that was frightening.

"Harry…" Hermione said hesitantly, wanting to snap him out of this dangerous mood, yet fearing that he would snap at _her_. Seeing a minute (almost invisible) twitch run through Harry's body; Ron skidded to halt and quickly reached his hand out and grabbed Hermione's arm, similarly stopping her as well. Hermione looked over at him in confusion but the concern on his face was more than enough to make her shut mouth and allow the question to die in her throat.

Ignorant, Harry continued to stalk down the hallway, not even pausing as a small gaggle of second years scattered in an attempt to stay away from the path of his wrath. Hermione watched in dismay and worry as he walked right past the staircase that led up to the upper floors where the Alchemy classroom was located.

"Harry." Hermione called out, her voice was soft and laced with concern as it echoed down the hallway. Ron's grip on her upper arm tightened with a quick squeeze.

Harry came to a sudden stop and whipped around. "WHAT?" He bellowed at them, green eyes flashing, his face twisted in rage.

Hermione took a small unconscious step backwards as tears sprang up to sting her eyes. "You missed your staircase." She said meekly.

The entire empty corridor was silent for a few tense moments. Then Harry seemed to deflate before their eyes, his stature folding inwards on himself. Similarly the tension seemed to bleed away with him and he looked up at them, a small sheepish smile slipping across his face. "Thanks Hermione." He said softly.

Hermione sniffled and wiped her eyes clear of the tears. "You're welcome Harry."

* * *

When Hermione had first received the letter regarding the alchemy class, she had been rather confused, having never even heard about the class. She figured that she would've at least known where the class was located. Yet walking to the class, her previous confusion began to make sense as they wandered into the unused part of the castle. The majority of this section was just unused classes; relics of a more prosperous time. It was a rather depressing area; the colours were faded, dust was everywhere, and their footsteps echoed down the hallways.

After wandering around for a couple minutes – hopelessly lost – Harry finally pulled out the Marauder's Map and used it to locate the small staircase that would bring them up to the Alchemy classroom – the only room located on a small, rather unnoticeable turret.

Together the Trio arrived on the landing at the top of the obscure, hidden staircase. There was a small crowd beginning to grow around the entrance to the sole door and already the landing was impossibly crowded. It seemed like nobody knew whether or not they should enter the room unannounced – and nobody was willing to be the person to find out.

Hermione sighed exasperated and began to push her way through the crowd, pulling Ron and – subsequently – Harry along with her. The group began to whisper, murmur and hiss, both at Hermione and at Harry. Hermione watched with sympathy and a small amount of pity when she saw him tense up. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked over at her and attempted to give her a smile that failed horribly and turned into a grimace. Hermione removed her hand and knocked first on the heavy wooden door as a warning, and then opened it and walked in.

The room was gloomy, poorly lit with old uncomfortable looking desks lined up in perfectly straight lines.

"Ummm, excuse me, Professor? Are you here?" Hermione's voice seemed to echo throughout the stone covered room.

"Yes. What do you want?" Hermione was taken aback as an accented sharp voice seemed to echo around the room from nowhere.

"Well, I… I – I mean the rest of the class – were just wondering if we could come in yet? It's almost time for class to start, but I didn't want to presume anything. I mean I know how some professors don't want students inside their class when they aren't there but there's not a lot of room in the hallway and…" Hermione let herself trail off nervously, her eyes searching around the room for any sign of the mysterious, blond man.

A sharp, hollow sounding laugh filled the room as said blond head of hair appeared from behind a ridiculously large stack of books. "Is it that time already?" Hermione watched riveted as a mirthless smile crossed the man's face. "I always lose track of time, even as a child. You know how it is." He nodded his head toward the giant pile of books that covered his entire desk.

"Ye…yeah." She stammered, an uncharacteristic blush covering her face. Edward – _Professor Elric_ she harshly reminded herself – walked up to the front of the room and the podium that resided there while Hermione's eyes followed him, her eyes entranced by the silky golden trail of his high pony tail.

"_PSST!_ Hermione!" Harry's voice interrupted her train of thought.

She whipped around, blushing even harder. "What?" She hissed right back at him.

Harry gave her a strange look at her bright red face but chose not to comment on it. "So can we come in or not? Ron is _this_ close to just skiving off, and I don't think he's the only one."

"Well how am I supposed to teach a class that isn't here?" The blond said loudly to let them know that he had easily overheard them. "Come in and sit down."

Harry ducked back out into the hallway and Hermione could hear him yelling at the people to come in. As the crowd began to pile in Hermione nearly sprinted to the front in an unacknowledged race with Lavender Brown and Parvarti Patil for the seat right in front the podium where _Professor _Elric would be.

The class quickly quieted down as he walked up to the beautifully carved granite podium.

"Alright, let's get started."

**AN: Sorry for the lack of length, but this honestly seemed like the best spot for a chapter break.**

**On another note, I am from the US and this is the first chapter that I have honestly and actively tried to get rid of my "Americanisms" however if you happen to spot any glaring ones, I would be eternally grateful if you could point them out to me for future reference.**

**Thank you so much.**

**~Mayanpaw**


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